124 thE sudan handbookinvolve social commitment to both the origin and destination. In western
Sudan, it is generally known that families with migrant members are
better off than ones without. In this sense, rural-urban migration, or
migration generally, can foster integration and entrench people’s connec-
tions across space. Through migration, different people come together
and get exposed to each other’s ways of living and thinking. Migration
provides possibilities for greater tolerance in multiethnic and multi-
cultural societies.
Yet, there are far-reaching negative consequences also. First, the rural
areas lose vital productive resources, especially as the majority of migrants
are of working age. This results in the deterioration of productivity of
agricultural and pastoral sectors, hence the decline of the contribution of
these sectors to the gross national product. Second, the rapid growth of
urban population puts pressure on the services and urban infrastructure.
Third, inequalities in the town reveal poverty and lack of integration of
migrants into the urban system. Khartoum, for example, is currently
witnessing a remarkable real-estate development including residential
complexes, infrastructure and foreign investment projects. Parts of the
city are coming to resemble Dubai or Abu Dhabi, in the Arabian Gulf.
Yet, these developments do not benefit the half of Khartoum’s popula-
tion that lives in the vast periphery of the city. The city provides few
services to this group. And long-term residents of Khartoum fear that the
growth of the city will reinforce ethnic and class polarization. Successive
governments have feared what they see as the destructive potential of
newcomers and have adopted a security approach to migrants and IDPs,
pushing them to the outer edges of the city.How Migrants LiveHow do migrants earn a living? Over the years, they have adopted many
strategies. IDPs initially depended on relief food provided by NGOs.
Relief food was distributed from 1984 onwards as a result of famine in
eastern and western Sudan. But relief distribution was greatly reducedThe Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors in 1998 and IDPs in Khartoum have been left largely on their own since
(www.riftvalley.net).